Camera dolly



DSC- 17, 1940- H. G. CUNNINGHAM "2.224,901

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CAMERA DoLLY Filed July 2o, 1937 Dec. 17, 1940.

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Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNITED sTATlazs CAMERA DOLLY G. Cunningham, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Radio Keith Orpheum Corporation, a corporation oi Maryland Application July 20, 1937, Serial No. .154,587

10 Claims.

This invention relates to motionpicture apparatus and particularly to a motion picture camera truck or dolly wherein the camera may be adjusted vertically and horizontallyl or in any combination of the two motions.

-The principal object of the invention is to facilitate the bodily transition or movement of a motion picture camera within a given area.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the adjustment of a camera with respect to height and lateral placement within a certain area to be photographed and to facilitate the transportation of the adjusting mechanism from place to place without undue loss of time and without affecting the stability of the mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate the control of the adjusting mechanism and to spatially dispose the controls for convenient access.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a steering control which willpermit movement of the dolly in a straight line in any ydirection or along any curved path.

Camera trucks .and dollies are well known in the arteven to those of the general nature of this invention, which, in brief, is a dolly, havingA wheels for transporting it and its camera from place to place, and a boom with an elevating mechanism for the boom and camera, the boom being-rotatable and tiltable. 'I'he fundamental requirements of such a motion picture camera dolly are sturdiness, flexibility -as to movement from place to place, stability when operating the camera during takes and simplicity insofar as the camera mechanism to prevent the noise of the operating mechanism from reaching the recording microphone. Thus the dolly must be sufficiently sturdy to support this weight. With a dolly of the boom type, having the camera supported at the end thereof, it is realized that a construction must be provided to not only support this weight, but also a counter-balance of equal or greater reaction depending upon the pivot position of the boom. Furthermore, ,the

cameraman and/or his assistant must operate the camera, and, therefore, their weights are added either directly on the boom itself or at least upon the truck portion of the dolly.

Other problems involved in facilitating the movement or bodily transition of the camera 'during a take is ease and smoothness of rotation, elevation and tilt of the boom for various "pan shots or such shots taken wherein the camera is lmoved in a straight line across the set. The dolly must also be able to be moved at various angles for projecting the camera within openings such as windows or doors of the set. In the present dolly construction all of these features have been provided by a construction which not only permits the operator to quickly make the adjustments, but a structure which is simplified to a point where the adjustments may be made quickly, easily, and with the greatest eilicacy.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims appending herewith, the manner of its organization and the mode of its operation will be better understood by referring to the following description read in .conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention showing two positions of the camera boom in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 2 with the elevating mechanism in a second position;

Figs. 4 'and 5 are cross-sectional views along the line I-4 and line 5 5, respectively, of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view partly in cross-section `taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the pan brake mechanism shown at thecenter of Fig.`6;

Fig. Bis a cross-sectional view of the brake mechanism taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 8; Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the same brake mechanism taken along the line 9 9 of Fig. 9;

. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the actuating mechanism of the brake of Figs. 8 and 9;

Fig. 11 is a detail view of the mechanism for adjusting the handle of the brake of Figs. ilv and 9;

Figs. 12 and 13 are plan and. elevational views. respectively, of the seat arrangement for the camera dolly of' Fig. 1;

bodiment of the invention, a second position of.

the boom being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the elevatv ing mechanism of the embodiment shown in Fig.

15 and taken along the line 28-28 of Fig. 15;

Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the supporting column taken along the line 29-29 of Fig. 16; and

Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the tilt brake mechanism taken along the line SII-3|) of Fig. 16.

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals indicate similar elements and particularly to Fig. 1 showing the rst embodiment of the invention, a frame 3 of substantially rectangular shape is mounted on two front wheels one of which is shown at 4 and two rear wheels one of which is shown at 6. Mounted in an opening in the forward portion of the frame 3 is a cylindrical housing i? having strengthening ribs 8 (see Fig. 2). The upper portion of the housing 3 has a horizontal ange 3' bolted to Z-type bracket members 9 which, in turn, are bolted to frame 3. Concentrically disposed within the housing 8 are two telescoping cylindrical column members l@ and |I which are adapted to be raised vertically, as will be explained hereinafter. As shown in Fig. 4, the outer column member is held in non-rotational relationship with respect to the member 8 by a block strip lil' bolted to column I and positioned between bearings |65 and |66 held in position by a cover plate |61 mounted on housing 8 by shaft bolts |68 locked by set screws |63. This strip ill serves as a vertical guide for the column i3. A view of block strip I and housing 3 at a lower position is shown in Fig. 5. A stop bolt i1@ extending into a slot in block strip lll serves to limit the upper movement of column lil when the closed end |10' contacts the bolt.

Bolted to the housing 8 at its lower end is a bottom section i2 on which is supported a threaded screw i3 with a ball point |1I to carry the weight of the apparatus supported by the screw I3. The screw I3 has mounted at its lower end bevel gear I4 intermeshed with a second bevel gear I5 mounted on respective bearings I4' and i5. The gear l5 is rotated by means of a shaft I3 extending upwardly at an angle through the frame 3 and having mounted on the end thereof a hand-crank i1 for manual operation. Immediately surrounding the screw i3 is a cylindrical sleeve member |3 having its upper end threaded exteriorly, the threads meshing with the interiorly threaded portion of a downwardly extending cylindrical member I6'. The lower end of sleeve member I3' carries a block |12 internally threaded to mesh with the external threads of screw |3. Member I3' has a cap member I1' with projecting shoulders to contact an inner shoulder portion of the threaded member I6. In this manner a stop is provided for the threading action of the external threads of member I3' and the threads of member I5 as shown more clearly in Fig. 3.

The outer cylindrical sleeve member I0 is movable upwardly and supported laterally by six upper ball bearings, vone of which is shown at I8, the opposite side being shown out of position to more clearly illustrate the construction. These bearings remain stationary to accommodate the thrust action of the camera boom, while a lower set of six bali bearings, one of which is shown at I9, is adapted to accommodate the lateral thrust action at the lower end of column I0, these bearings being movable with the column. The inner column II is movable upwardly within the column IIJ and is adapted to extend outside the upper end of column I0. Similar bearings, one of which is shown at 20 and 2|, accommodate the thrust action of column I I, the upper bearings being carried by column I0 and the lower ones by column II. is provided on the inner surface of column I0 to contactthe ear 241 at bearing 2| to limit the upper motion of column II within column Il). To provide a guide for column II and to prevent rotation of column I0 within column I I, two strips 300 and are riveted longitudinally to the inside wall of column I0 and a strip 302 is riveted to the outside wall of column II and positioned between strips 350 and 30|.

Threaded to the internal cylinder II at its upper end is a cylindrical platform 22 with a depending flange 22', to the lower edge of which is threaded an apron member 26 to which is bolted a circular platform 21 with a removable section 28 (see Fig. 1). Disposed around flange 22 are two rings 23 separated from each other and from the flange 22 and top of apron 26 by ball bearings 23', permitting rotation of the rings or any member attached thereto, such as seats 24 and 25 (see Fig. 12) Each ring may be locked in position by a spring-pressed plunger, one of which is shown at 23", the inner end of which is accommodated in holes provided in the flange 22'. The cylindrical extension I6 is also bolted to the platform 22, forming the connection betweerlilthe raising mechanism and the columns Ill and On the upper surface of member 22 projects a ange 3B upon which is mounted an upright cylindrical column member 33 held to platform 22 by an I-ring 3| clamped in place by clamp 32. Rotetably mounted on the member 33 by bearings 34 and 35 is a casting |13 having bearing portions at the ends thereof to mount bearings |14 and 245 which carry boom side members 36 and 31 interlaced together by brackets 3S as shown in Fig. 1. The boom is therefore rotatable about a vertical axis on the bearings 34 and 35, and tiltable about a horizontal axis on bearings |14 and 245. To lock the boom in any desired rotated position, a brake band 39, with overlapping ends as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, is provided. As shown in these figures, two link members 4i) connect the overlapped ends of the brake to a center ball member 4I which is urged toward the membei 33 by screw 42 operated by handwheel 43 to tighten the band 39 about member 33 to provide the braking action. The brake is maintained in position by a collar 44 on the member 33.

Mounted above the member 33 and bolted to casting |13 is a plate 45 having an upper yoke section 45 into which is mounted a bearing axle 46 on ball bearings 43'. Axle 46 forms the center mounting of an equalizing rod knuckle 41 into which is threaded rods 48 and 49 which, in turn, are threaded into end knuckles 50 and 5I respectively (see Fig. l). The rods 48 and 49 have rightand left-hand threads at the ends thereof to adjust the respective vertical positions of a weight carrier box 52 shown with lead weights 53 therein and a handle rod 54 thereon, and that of a camera supporting plate 55 which is pivoted at the forward end of the brake. It is believed A stop 245, shown out of position,-

the action of the equalizer is well understood and 1 g will not be further described except to say that for all angular'tllt positions' of the `boom'128 the upper surface of the camera plate 65 will remain horizontal, the same being true of theweight box 52. e

Mounted within an' enlarged portion of casting |13 is a brake drum 1I with a brakel band 1 2 which will be further described in connection with Figs. 8, 9 and 10. Discussing now the operation of the elevating mechanism which car-I The sleeve I0 slid along its bearings I8 and I9.

yat 51 is interposed therebetween.

The sleeve I 6 was stopped by the internal shoulder abutting the collar` I1 at the top of the cylinder I3'. At this point, rotation of the element I3 was stopped while continued rotation of the screw I3 moved the block I6 upwardly continuing the upward movement. As the raising continues, stop screw I'I0 will stop the upward movement of column I0, but the inner column I I will continue to rise upwardly within column I0 on bearings 20 and 2l until ear 241 contacts projection 246, thus stopping any further upward motion. As stated above, the action may also occur differently, such that the screw I3 first turns with member I3 and then I3' rotates within member I6'. Also, column II may first move upwardly inside column I0 and then column I0 follow thereafter. In any event, it is immaterial in what order these movements occur, as the boom is operative regardless of the relative positions of the columns or threaded members. There is thus provided a telescoping. action with a ratio which permits a man to elevate the entire boom, camera and counterweight as well as a cameraman or assistant cameraman who happens to b'e on the platform 21.

As shown in Fig. 1, a camera 56 of any type may be mounted directly upon the platform 55, but preferably a leveling device shown generally As the camera plays no part in the present invention, further details thereof will not be described. It will sufee to say that the camera is mounted for tilting action about a pivot axis 59 to be actuated by a hand rod 58.

'4 Referring now to Figs. l, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 in which the tilt brakes are illustrated in detail, it will' be observed that there are three such brakes, one located at the rear of the boom at 68,A one at the pivot point of the boom at 69, and one at the front end of the boom at 10. These brakes are similar to one another but of a different type than that of the pan brake, and the detailed drawings of Figs. 8, 9 and l0 fully show their operation, as will now be described. Brake drums are provided, as shown in Figs. 8y and 9, at 1I with internally expanding brake shoes 12 mounted at 13 and separated diametrically opposite 13 by opposed tapered members 14 and 14'. 'I'he tapered members 14 and 14' are threaded upon a rotatable shaft 15 carrying rightand left-hand threads 16 and 11.

vr'ing the positions ofther handles. f ment is accomplished with a plurality of screws .place to place.

19 in cooperation with slots in thecircular portion of the handle, as shown in Fig.111. By turning any one of the handles 18, the rod 15 is' rotated, the left-hand screw 11, looking at Fig. 9, urging the left-'hand wedge 14 toward the right-hand wedge 14,` while the right-hand wedge is being urged toward the left-hand wedge by right-hand screw- 16. The movement of the wedges toward Ione another Aseparates the ends of the brake `shoes 12, thus binding them against the brake. drums 1I to lock the boom in any desired tilt position. This is possible inasmuch as the rear end brake 68 has its drum attached to the weight box 52, which always has a vertical position, while the shoe is mounted to the boom frame 31 by stud 248. In the case of the center brake 69, the brake drum is fixed by being a part of casting |13, while the shoe of this brake is mounted around a quill 249 (see Fig. 6). For brake 10, the drum forms a part of the camera plate 55, which always has a vertical position, and the shoe therefor is mounted around stud 250. That is,v three brakes are presented to the operator, each being independent of one another buteach sulcient to securely lock the boom in any tilt position.

Referring now to Figs. l2 and 13 showing the cameraman seats 24 and 25, there are two of these shown diametrically opposed. to one another, -seat 24 being mounted on the upper of the rings 23, and seat 25 being mounted on the lower of the rings 23. Each seat, therefore, may be independently moved about the apron 26 and over the platform. 21., since the rings are mounted on ball bearings 23 (see Fig. 2), and the weight of the seats and load is carried on wheels as shown at 8|. The wheels 8I roll on a rail formed of a slightly upraised circumferential portion of platform 21. The seats are adjustable radially from the center of the boom by sliding them in a groove on a frame 82 and locking them in any adjusted position by knurled nuts 83. The frames 82 have upturned ends which are inserted within brackets 84 connected to the rings so that the frames` are removable at will, the upturned portions 82 having holes therein in which are inserted pins controlled by knurled nuts 85 as shown in Fig. 13. There is thus provided independent rotatable seats for the cameraman or assistant cameraman which are adjustable rotatably about the boom independently of the boorns position, and `at the same time adjustable away from the rotatable axis of the boom to an optimum position for operating the camera. If the seats are not desired, they may be readily removed and the operators can then stand upon the plate 21.

Gil

The steering mechanism for the dolly wheels,

two of which are shown at 4 and 6 in Fig. l, is disclosed and claimed in divisional application Serial No. 215,614, led June 24, 1938. The rear wheels of the dolly are caster-mounted upon yokes, one of which is shown at |26.- The divisional application describes the. function of the fixed tubular handles -I04 and III with the tubular cross bar |06 for'maneuvering the dolly from shaft having a handle |01 mounted thereon for applying brakes to the dolly, the handle being 'slidable on a curved member |08, to which the handle |01 maybe locked by a lever |09. The

The cross bar |06 contains a' Cyl .dolly is steered by a steering handle Ill placed midway between the members |04 and and connected to a rotatable member ||5 having a quadrant section ||6 for locking the wheels in different steering positions. In Fig. 1 is shown the upper end |30 of an adjustable rod for providing different steering arrangements for the wheels. The dolly is provided with jacks at the rear portion of the frame 3 for stabilizing the camera at certain shooting locations, the hand wheel for one of these jacks being shown at |59. The jacks are maintained horizontally when not in use by set screws operated by handles |56.

In the second embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the remaining figures, namely, to 18, inclusive, a camera dolly is disclosed having all the features of the first embodiment together with several improvements to facilitate the control of the various adjustments. Referring now to these figures and particularly Fig. 15, a frame or bedplate H15 is supported by four wheels similar to the wheels of the dolly of Fig. 1. The boom |16 is also similar to the boom 29 of Fig. 1, boom |16 having a similar camera supporting plate |11 and weight box |16.

The equalizing rod above the boom in the present embodiment is constructed differently from that of Fig. 1 to the extent that the knuckle above the pivot point of the boom is formed in two parts or is jointed as shown more clearly in Fig. 16. The forward knuckle |19 is in the form of a yoke to accommodate a narrowed portion of the rear knuckle |90 which dovetails therewith around the axle 263. This improvement permits easier alignment of the equalizer and facilitates assembling of the dolly. The boom |16 is equipped with tilt and pan brakes, there being two tilt brakes, one -shown at |91 and a similar brake located at the pivot point of the boom but on the opposite side from a pan brake |82. Fan brake |32 is similar to pan brake 39 of the first embodiment, and is shown in Fig. 16 as having a handle |89 with a threaded screw |30 which has a contact end 26d for bearing against the links connecting the ends of the brake band shown in cross-section at |85. The tilt brakes are similar to the tilt brakes of the boom of Fig. 1 and have leftand right-hand screws iti and 01 on a shaft 180 operated by a handle |69 as shown in Fig. 18. This cross-section is of the tilt brake located at the pivot point of the boom, the drum 255 being integral with boom supporting casting 205 and the brake shoe 261 being mounted on the side of the boom by stud 269 carrying ball bear- .ings 269 on which the boom |16 tilts. A stud 210 supports the shoe diametrically opposite the shaft 88.

In Fig. 17 a cross-section of the elevating mechanism and exterior housing therefor is shown, and now referring to this figure and Fig. 16, a circular split apron member |90 is bolted to the bedplate |15 by bolts |9l, the apron being tightened about a column member 205 by a bolt |92. Slotted members shown in cross-section at |93 may be inserted in the rib-like sections of the apron |90 for the purpose of providing longitudinal slots for mounting a platform or seats.

The elevating mechanism of this embodiment is similar in many respects to that of Fig. 1 but differs in employing fewer parts, thus reducing friction to a minimum. A similar hand-operated rod |94, having a set of bevel gears |95 and |96 actuated thereby, serves to revolve a cylindrical shaft member |91 pinned to gear |96, the member |91 having attached thereto at its upper end an internally threaded member 216, the threads of which mesh with a vertical screw |90. Rotation of the shaft |91 about the screw |90 moves the screw |90 upwardly from its position as shown in Fig. 16. Attached to the top of screw |98 is a cross member 211 to which is pinned a. cylindrical column |99 having a bottom member 218 upon which are mounted ball bearings 203. Similar bearings and 202 mounted on fixed column 205 together with bearings 203 serve as lateral support bearings for the boom as column |99 is moved up and down. A bearing 219 shown out of position is mounted on the inside of fixed column 205 and has a guide mounted on column |99 operating therein to keep the cylinder |99 from rotating. The guide extends down to shoulder 260'of bottom member 218, which serves as a limit stop.

Mounted internally of the upper portion of movable column |99 are roller bearings 20| and 202 upon which a shaft member 200 rotates. Member 200 has bolted to its upper end a depending casting 266 and an upper yoke casting 283. The casting 203 supports axle pin 263 for equalizing knuckles |19 and |80. Casting 266 carries axle studs 290 and 284 upon which the boom is supported and tilted. The elevating mechanism functions, therefore, in the manner of that of Fig. 2, except that one of the actuating thread'- ed members as well as one of the telescoping column members has been eliminated. It also differs from that of Fig. 1 by utilizing a fixed screw instead of a movable one.

Referring again to Fig. 15, it is to be observed that this embodiment has, at the rear of the truck, a steering handle 206 and a moving handle 201 similar to the first embodiment The steering handle, however, is now adjustable as to tilt, since its yoke end 2li is pivoted at 208 by straddling a member 295 'which is integral with cylindrical dished member Elfi, the latter being set within a depression of the frame |15. Handle 229 locks the steering rod 209 in any desired angular posi? tion. This embodiment is steered similarly to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, one control therefor being shown by the pin 219.

The dolly structure of Fig. l5 employs four jacks for leveling the frame during. the shooting of a scene, one of the rear jacks being shown at 22,6 with its contact shoe 239, and one of the .front jacks being shown by the dotted lines 226,

the front jack 226 being controlled by a hand wheel 239, and the rear jack 225 being controlled by a hand wheel 221.

A brake system for this modification is also employed as shown by the lever 202 and the cable 203 in Fig. 1'5. This brake system is similar to that of the modification shown in Fig. 1. The elevating crank mechanism also extends tov/'ard the rear of the truck and is operated by handle 298 shown in Fig. 15.

It is to be observed that the main improvements in the second embodiment over the first are in concentrating the controls of the dolly in one place where they are Within easy reach of an operator standing in one position. That is, the controls for guiding and moving the truck, elevating the boom, braking the truck and stabilizing the dolly are all placed at the rear of the dolly. A plurality of tilting brake controls and a pan brake are provided for easy access. 'I'he dolly operator is, therefore, enabled to quickly move the dolly in any desired manner as well as raise, lower, rotate and tilt the boom quickly and conveniently. In the second modification, the circular platform has been eliminated while 2,224,901 the bedplate |15 has its front end cut back tol permit lowering of the front end of theboom beyond the llevel of the frame |15 as shown by the dotted lines 299 of Fig. 15.

I claim:

1. A cameral dolly comprising a platform, supporting means for said platform, a vertical column mounted on said platform, said column being adapted to be raised and lowered, a boom manually tiltable and rotatable at the upper end of said column, said boom having-a camera support at one end thereof and a counter-balance support at' the other end thereof, manually operative means mounted on said boom and said column for locking said boom in any adjusted tilted position with respect to said column, and manually operative means mounted on said boom and said column for locking said boom in any adjusted rotated position with respect to said column.

2. In a camera dolly construction, the combination of a platform, supporting means for saidplatform, a camera boom having a camera support at one end thereof and a counter-balance .at the other end thereof, a vertical column mounted on said platform at the upper end of which said boom is pivotally and rotatably mounted on respective pivotal and rotatable points and adapted to loe moved by manual pressure thereon, and elevating means for said column comprising a vertical exteriorly threaded screw Within said column, and a cylinder adapted to rotate about said screw for raising and lowering said column and said boom, said screw having a thread pitch adapted `to maintain the pivot and rotatable points of said boom xedly in any adjusted position during pivoting and rotation of said boom.

3. A camera ,dolly structure comprising a frame, a platform on said frame, a cylindrical housing mounted on said platform having a vertically adjustable column therein, a second column surrounding said first column and having a substantially circular housing mounted at the.

upper end thereof, bearings to permit telescoping of said first and second mentioned columns and said housing and for preventing lateral movement therebetween, a platform depending from said circular housing, said circular housing and platform being .adjustable vertically with one of said columns, a counter-balanced boompivotally and rotatably mounted on said circularv housing and adapted for direct manual movement, manually operative independent means for locking said boom tov said circular housing in any adjusted angular position, and manually operative independent means for locking said boom to said circular housing in any rotated position, said boom being relatively rotatable and tiltable with respect to said depending platform.

4. A camera dolly structure comprising a substantially horizontal frame member, a vertically arranged cylindrical column member attached to said frame member, a second vertically arranged column member adapted to be moved vertically within said first column member, vertically arranged screw means within said4 second column for actuating said movable column member, the ratio of said screw means being adapted to automatically maintain said second column member in any adjusted position, bearings permitting relative longitudinal movement between said column members without lateral movement therebetween, a boom mounted on said movable column member and adapted to be man.

ually rotated and tilted on said member, a plurality of rotatable members mounted on said movable column member, a platform member mounted on said movable column member" and adapted to be moved vertically there-- -bers attached to respective'rotatable members,

said seat members being adapted to be individually rotated about said column member at all positions of said movable column member during movement of said boom by an operator seated on said seat members.

5. Ay camera dolly construction comprising a frame member having a cut-away portion therein, a column member mounted on said frame member and within an aperture therein, a movable column within said fixed column and adapted to be raised and lowered, a boom mounted on said movable column and adapted to be rotated and tilted by direct manual pressure on said boom, said boom being adapted to pass into the cutaway portion of said frame in one tilt position,

a camera supporting plate on yone end of said boom, an adjustable counter-balance mounted on the other end of said boom, an equalizer rod for interconnecting said counter-balance and camera supporting plate to maintain said counterbalance and plate in the same relative positions with respec-t to a horizontal, manually operative braking means mounted on said boom and said movable column member for locking said-boom to said movable column member in any tilt position, and a manually operative brake mounted on said boom and said movable column member for locking said boom to said movable column member in any rotated position.

6. A camera dolly construction comprising a substantially horizontal platform frame member, a vertical column member mounted on said frame member substantially at the center thereof, a second column member adapted to be telescoped within said rst column member, a boom having pivot and rotatable mountings on the upper end of said telescoping column member, said boom being adapted to be manually rotated and tilted, a camera supporting plate at one end of said boom, a counter-balance at the other end of said boom, means inter-connecting said camera plate vand counter-balance for maintaining them in the same relative positions with respect to a horizontal for any tilt position of said boom, a brake drum iixedly mounted with respect to said camera plate, a cooperating brake band'xedly mounted with respect to said boom, manually operative means for causing engagement ofv said band with said drum to lock said boom in tilt position, a brake band surrounding said telescoping column member and attached to said boom and manually operative means for causing said brake band to contact said telescoping column member to lock ,said boom in any rotated position.

'7. A camera boom construction comprising a substantially horizontal frame plate, a vertical column attached to said frame at approximately the center thereof, a column member within said attached column member and adapted to be raised .and lowered, screw means for raising and lowering said column member, the ratio of said screw means being adapted to maintain said column member in any raised position, and a counter-balanced camera boom mounted on said movable member, said boom being adapted to be manually tilted and rotated by pressure directly applied thereto.

8. A camera dolly comprising the combination of a frame, a plurality of cylindricalcolumn members, one of which is flxedly attached to said frame, means for vertically adjusting a. second of said column members, a'boom mounted on the upper end of said second column member, said boom being adapted to support a camera at one era at one end and a counterbalance at the other end thereof, said boom having rotatable and pivotal points for rotating and pivoting said boom about the upper end of said telescoping means; a platform adapted to be raised and lowered with the pivot and rotatable points of said boom but which remains xed during rotation and tilting of said boom, and means to lock said boom in position with respect to said platform and telescoping means.

10. A camera dolly in accordance with claim 9 in which said last-mentioned means includes manually operable brakes mounted on said boom and associated with said telescoping means for locking said boom in any adjusted rotational or pivoted position, said brakes being within reach of an operator on said platform.

HARRY G. CUNNINGHAM. 

